Political advantage? Considering the Political Skill of raters

One of the ways that organizations can improve the selection process is by identifying good judges who can more accurately assess applicants. With this goal in mind, the present study proposed that politically skilled individuals would make good judges. The study focuses on two antecedents of Political Skill, perceptiveness, and control, which have corollaries in the Realistic Accuracy Model. In the present study, these are referenced as perceptiveness and self-assuredness. The study found support for the proposition that a rater's level of Political Skill is related to selection decisions. Further, the study supports in some circumstances that Political Skill mediates the relationship between sources of knowledge and contextual factors with rater selection decisions. Suppression effects were also found indicating further research on the role of Political Skill in selection decisions is needed.